Friday January 06, 2017

Say what you want about T-Mobile's CEO, the guy knows how to seize on a perfect opportunity to make his competitors eat crow. The funny thing about T-Mobile, even though I am not a customer, almost all of the cool benefits I've received from my carrier in the past few years are a direct result of something T-Mobile started for their customers.

*UPDATE* A public relations manager from Verizon contacted us today to give their side of the story. This is what the company had to say:

"The Chincoteague Fire Department asked Verizon to relocate telephone network equipment from where they intend to build a new fire station, and asked us to use the most expensive option for doing so. What’s been missing from the story about the cost to complete the work is this: we’re not talking about moving a phone line or two. They’ve asked us to relocate and bury more than 1000’ of very large copper cables and fiber optic lines serving a large portion of Chincoteague Island آ– a very expensive process. There are other ways to accomplish this and we’ve offered lower cost options. We’ll consider any design changes they’re willing to make and work with them to find a less costly way to do the work. The choice is ultimately up to the Fire Department."

Personally, I think that a company with over $130 billion in revenue in 2015 could have easily donated the entire cost of the bill to the volunteer fire department. It would have been a tax write off and great publicity (the kind you can't buy for $73K). Instead, John Legere was able to seize the opportunity and Verizon has egg on its face.